Jumpgate silence broken.

[Mrbloodworth]

Aside from this week's headlining announcement that LotRO is going free this fall, there was another bit of news that’s started to make some waves in the week prior to E3.  Long since believed to be a vaporware by the cynics, NetDevil’s Jumpgate Evolution is finally back and tracking on gamers’ radars as the title’s producer came out with a lengthy post this explaining the reason for the game’s long period of silence.  What the letter amounted to was that basically NetDevil had a lot of the game’s systems working but  that the result simply wasn’t what they wanted it to be… and so like any good developer would the Colorado lads and lasses went back to the drawing board.

A while back, as JGE was still in quiet-mode, I wrote an article about five things NetDevil needed to do in order to make the evolution of Jumpgate successful.  As it turned out, I wasn't at all far off from the developer's own line of thought.  Scott Brown and Lance Robertson both read the article and I received an e-mail and subsequent phone call from the former in order to clarify how ND was planning on making my prognostications come true.  Basically Scott said that the team behind JGE has exactly the same thoughts as me and that they're anxious to start showing the game again, but that they wouldn't be doing so until they were definitely ready.  Next week is that time.  And I have a feeling that those folks who have been calling the game vaporware for a while might be eating some hefty portions of crow. 

While they're understandably holding a lot of their cards close to the chest until next week, I was able to get Scott and Lance to tell me what we can expect from this year's E3 showing.  Aside from a major overhaul of most of the game's systems, a lot of what JGE was initially going to be was thrown out (as Lance stated here) and instead the team has focused most of its attention on bringing you the biggest and best representation of massive space battles the likes of which have so far only been seen on film.  At E3 we'll get to see if and how NetDevil has been able to seamlessly blend the PvE and PvP, or the AI with the player characters to create truly stunning and massive space battles.  Scott gave me an example that while there may be hundreds of players controlling smaller ships in a battle, the AI might be off controlling turrets on a space station.  Or that players might find themselves tasked with destroying a massive alien fleet controlled by AI only to have it result in a PvP battle for the resources the aliens were hoarding.


The entire quest system has been redesigned as well, and apparently it now focuses on objective-based questing with the result driving the factional warfare.  Of course I was assured there will be plenty of PvE as well, but that even the PvE content will be focused on the feud between the game's three factions.  It's sounding more and more like a hybrid of DAoC and Wing Commander, and I for one couldn't be more excited to see if NetDevil can pull it off. I'll let you know if they're on the right track next week after I get my grubby hands on the pilot controls.

and:

Long before I joined the company, when NetDevil set out to build Jumpgate Evolution in 2007, they started with what was considered to be a relatively simple goal: to update the original Jumpgate for a modern audience. They wanted to retain the game’s core - a player-driven space MMO with realistic physics and combat - while expanding the scope to incorporate many of the aspects of modern MMOs.

Back then, many original Jumpgate players probably felt the same way that NetDevil did; that while updating the original game would be a difficult task, it wouldn’t be an impossible one. It was your support that kept the development team going, and the team tried to repay that support by bringing some of those early fans into Jumpgate Evolution’s first round of Friends & Family testing.

As we all now know, that initial round of testing exposed a hard truth about the ‘relatively simple goal’ of updating Jumpgate to become Jumpgate Evolution. While the core game experience of intense space-based combat was still solid, the reality was that as the team scaled up to let in more testers, things started to go wrong. Jumpgate Evolution’s modern ambitions exceeded Jumpgate’s old-school capabilities, and we knew we were not as close to launch as we needed to be.

That is when the team made the crucial decision to completely overhaul JGE’s game systems, while also refocusing specifically on the game play experience we wanted to make: space warfare on a massive scale.

It was a difficult choice to throw away what didn’t work and only keep and improve what did. One of the hardest things for a team to do is to throw away work, because it’s wasted time and effort, but in order for us to make this game the amazing experience we knew it could be, we had to let go of some things and push forward.

In order to achieve all of this, NetDevil made the decision to invest more in the game. We brought on additional staff members to ensure that Jumpgate Evolution’s vision remained strong and that the team could focus and gain momentum. They started with me, and since then I’ve been very fortunate to add a number of other key team members who you’ll get to meet (several in person, if you’re coming to E3) in the months ahead.

At the same time, we ‘went dark’ and stopped our regular flow of information. Why? Because there simply wasn’t anything we could talk about with absolute confidence.

We couldn’t discuss game features, because we were no longer sure what would make it into the game and what wouldn’t. We couldn’t talk about story, because it was being completely rewritten. There was so much that we wanted to share, but things were just at too early of a stage to discuss without the risk of disappointing you, our community. When we announce something, we ought to be as confident as possible that it will stay in the game – although in game development, there are no guarantees.

When we went back to the drawing board we needed the freedom to discard anything that was getting in the way of our vision for the game, so we gave ourselves that freedom by choosing not to discuss things before we were ready. We've also learned our lesson about announcing timelines too early. We’ve burned you before with that, and don’t want to burn you again.

I’m going to be honest with you and tell you something that may be difficult to hear: what you saw and heard of Jumpgate Evolution before now may have little bearing on the actual game we're going to deliver. When we went into that dark period to redesign much of the game, much was thrown away and new needs came to light, but we ultimately ended up with a much clearer vision of what we want Jumpgate Evolution to be, as well as the path to get there.

Now we’re finally ready to begin showing you what we’ve been working on. What you’ll see may look and feel similar on the surface, but it's what’s inside that counts. We’ve reached a level of confidence in our game that we didn’t have the first time around, and we’re much stronger for it.

Some of you are going to ask the obvious question: why should we believe you? Well, the proof is now in the game itself. You can experience it in the hands-on demo we’ll be bringing around the convention circuit this year. The stuff you’ll see in the demo is actual working tech from our current build. It’s real and shows off working features that will be in the game at launch. While most of you won’t be able to try the game out at E3, we are planning on being at other conventions this year. Hopefully many of you will get the chance to play it and see for yourselves that we’re on the right track.

Consider this to be a new beginning to our information flow. Anything you’ve seen up to this point may or may not still exist in the game, and all those details will come out in time. Right now we’re restarting with the story of the three warring nations, the very reason why you’ll be fighting in Jumpgate Evolution. After that we’ll be revealing more game information, and eventually, of course, we’ll get into Beta. Before that, however, we’ll return to the people who put us on this path in the first place, as we re-deploy our Friends & Family testing.

We can’t express how grateful we are for the community that we have. You guys have stuck with us through trying times, and we’re very excited to be able to start re-engaging with you and providing fresh game info, screenshots, videos, etc. We still have a long road ahead of us, but we know we couldn't have gotten this far without you. So thank you…

… and we’ll see you in space!

Lance Robertson
Executive Producer, Jumpgate Evolution

[LC]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

[ajax34i]

So they're aiming to provide the type of content that EVE's lag has made impossible lately?  GOOD.

[NiX]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Huh? Sounds more like the game was ass and they know they can't afford to release it that way.

[Draegan]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Huh? Sounds more like the game was ass and they know they can't afford to release it that way.

This. 

When they were releasing details about the game it looks pretty bad as far as how the PVE and PVP interacted.  There was a section out in the middle of nowhere where PVP happened then another section where PVE happened.  kinda like how in AOC you had the borderlands, and then you had the rest of the game.

[UnSub]

Links to those quotes, Bloodworth?

Scott gave me an example that while there may be hundreds of players controlling smaller ships in a battle, the AI might be off controlling turrets on a space station.  Or that players might find themselves tasked with destroying a massive alien fleet controlled by AI only to have it result in a PvP battle for the resources the aliens were hoarding.

Because mixing PvP and PvE objectives works awesome. 

The entire quest system has been redesigned as well, and apparently it now focuses on objective-based questing with the result driving the factional warfare.  Of course I was assured there will be plenty of PvE as well, but that even the PvE content will be focused on the feud between the game's three factions. It's sounding more and more like a hybrid of DAoC and Wing Commander

DAoC and Wing Commander, or WAR and Battlecruiser 3000AD?

[Samprimary]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

[Malakili]

DAoC and Wing Commander, or WAR and Battlecruiser 3000AD?

Touche.

[Draegan]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

Cool voice over.

[Ghambit]

That guy needs speech therapy.

[Mrbloodworth]

Jumpgate Evolution: E3 2010: Hands-On Impressions

[slog]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Rumor I heard was they got a new investor who didn't like the direction of the game and demanded changes.

[Ghambit]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Rumor I heard was they got a new investor who didn't like the direction of the game and demanded changes.

For once, a smart investor.

[Simond]

Hey, at least the number of factions is right.

[Ghambit]

Hey, at least the number of factions is right.

Well, if it were truly right it'd be zero factions and let the players sort themselves out or just get lost in space doing their own thing.
Anyone understand what their plans with stations are?  Seemed kind of vague.  Did they inject avatars?

[Typhon]

Hey, at least the number of factions is right.

Well, if it were truly right it'd be zero factions and let the players sort themselves out or just get lost in space doing their own thing.
[...]

Disagree, as this is why I'll never play EVE.  I don't want a full time job, I already have one...  and because I already have a job, I already have too much politics in my life, thanks.

[Cadaverine]

Hey, at least the number of factions is right.

Well, if it were truly right it'd be zero factions and let the players sort themselves out or just get lost in space doing their own thing.
[...]

Disagree, as this is why I'll never play EVE.  I don't want a full time job, I already have one...  and because I already have a job, I already have too much politics in my life, thanks.

I disagree with your disagreement, though I agree about not having a second job, etc.  Which is why I don't play WoW, or EQ2, or the rest of their ilk. 

Eve is, in its own mildly retarded way, one of the most casual games out there.  My character advances whether I'm online, or no.  Yes, Eve has it's own group of special people with 10 accounts, and yes, you can get involved in politics, and play 23/7, but a) you can do that in any MMO, and b) you don't have to get involved in politics, or any of the rest of it, even in a major 0.0 alliance.  I am, as a member of the f13 corp, in Goonswarm.  But I log on whenever the hell I feel like, and do whatever the hell I feel like.  As long as I participate in an op here and there, no one gives a rats ass what I do.   Are there serious business corps that require that you play X amount?  Sure.  But that has nothing to do with having no factions.  Those idiots exist in all multiplayer games.

So no, having no hard coded factions doesn't automatically mean you have to sell your soul to the game, nor does it necessarily mean you're relegated to some sort of gimp, second class citizen status.

[UnSub]

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Rumor I heard was they got a new investor who didn't like the direction of the game and demanded changes.

That'd have to be Gazillion or Codemasters, wouldn't it? Codemasters has been the indicated publisher for a while, but then Gazillion came along and bought NetDevil.

[Ghambit]

What kind of Richie-Rich prick names their company Gazillion?

[UnSub]

What kind of Richie-Rich prick names their company Gazillion?

[Sir T]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

Veery veery noice.

I think you can mark me down as a paying customer for this once it gets released.

[Sir T]

http://www.lotd.org/showthread.php?s=ca64713cb507d13c418e1a56905d5417&t=29356

Lords of the Dead was in force for E3 JGE with three attendees! Over the next few days they will be posting on this thread their thoughts and impressions about what we saw, heard, and experienced.

So let’s get to it! Here’s my write up.

First off I want to thank Daeke and Rockjaw for allowing us to go to E3 and experience JGE. We were divided into groups as we entered. Group one heard the presentation while group two had hands on time with JGE. Once both had completed each portion we were gathered into one room for the q & a.

Our group began with the hands on experience. The first thing that struck me was how crisp and detailed the art was. I was blown away by the graphics it was stunning. Movement was smooth and the game felt responsive.

Regarding combat:

By holding down your mouse button you can auto fire with your lasers. You will also have missles you can fire although I didn't get a chance to test those. Combat explosions were excellent. I was impressed by the time they have put into updating the game. I am not going to over specific controls as that has been reviewed quite well by many other attendees. When you pvp there will be no instances instead it will be 100% world pvp. (To clarify.., I am not saying the game is 100% pvp. There will be pve in JGE! I am editing this in because some definitely misunderstood.) It also goes without saying that any pve you do will be instance free. There will be epic battles and I asked how they will handle lag should it arise. I was told they have multiple systems in place. This will alow for a very smooth gameplay. Of course you are going to have lag in any game. They understand though how important it will be to optimize the game. They want us to have the best gameplay experience possible.


Ok here’s what I recall from the q & a:

    * There won't be an option for two players to fly in one ship
    * There are safe zones but they are really more areas where you can focus on learning the history, culture, and background of the game
    * At level 10 you can go pvp
    * There will be crafting
    * They are not flagging for pvp. If you see an opposing faction and it’s not in a safe zone you can kill them
    * Gameplay has been tested with 700 ai & can handle hundreds of players for pvp
    * Mining and hauling will not be a major focus
    * There will be definitive rewards for pvp
    * They will definitely be supporting Joystick and IRtrack
    * Repeated deaths will accrue a repair bill
    * There will be bonuses based on squad level pvp
    * No comment for the business model
    * You cannot talk to the opposing faction
    * They will have public quests. It was asked what if a player goes afk? Rewards will be based on participation so if you try to leech you won't get much.
    * There will be multiple servers
    * Yes to radar
    * No friendly fire
    * No cargo loss on death
    * No comment regarding guild stations, guild rewards, and guild station asset destruction

Overall impressions:

They answered nearly every question that was asked. I felt they were honest and forthright. They conveyed their passion for the game and making it the best experience possible. I can tell you without a doubt no media outlet got as many detailed answers as we did. When it was time for our q & a to end Scott, Daeke and Rockjaw went above and beyond. They asked were there any questions you felt you didn't get to ask? We were then allowed to go into an additional q & a. In addition there was swag including a shirt, mouse pad and poster!

Most importantly we got hands on time with the JGE. The game draws you in. You feel immersed within the sheer beauty of it. Every single detail from ship movement, to firing, to explosions was well thought out. Controls were precise and responsive. Passing thru the jumpgate was fluid and realistic. JGE is going to be an amazing game that is definitely worth the wait. We were also told there will be a major update for us come Pax!

[Samprimary]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

Veery veery noice.

I think you can mark me down as a paying customer for this once it gets released.

Any good press I can dump on you guys about how fun the game itself is to play will be forthcoming once I've had a chance to run around the game and pew-pew.

[Mrbloodworth]

This is the part that struck me the most.

  For nearly a year the offices of NetDevil have been quiet and with good reason, for what you may remember of JGE before the dead spell is long gone.  What’s come out on the other end is a game focused and poised to deliver truly massive space battles on the backdrop of a three-faction war for the fate of humanity.  It’s about faction pride, hi-speed dogfights, and dynamic PvE and PvP content on an epic scale… oh, and the instancing is a thing of the past.

I wonder how the "epic battles" will be handled now.

[tazelbain]

Finally the moment is ready for negative ping to shine!

[slog]

    * There won't be an option for two players to fly in one ship
    * There are safe zones but they are really more areas where you can focus on learning the history, culture, and background of the game
    * At level 10 you can go pvp
    * There will be crafting
    * They are not flagging for pvp. If you see an opposing faction and it’s not in a safe zone you can kill them
    * Gameplay has been tested with 700 ai & can handle hundreds of players for pvp
    * Mining and hauling will not be a major focus
    * There will be definitive rewards for pvp
    * They will definitely be supporting Joystick and IRtrack
    * Repeated deaths will accrue a repair bill
    * There will be bonuses based on squad level pvp
    * No comment for the business model
    * You cannot talk to the opposing faction
    * They will have public quests. It was asked what if a player goes afk? Rewards will be based on participation so if you try to leech you won't get much.
    * There will be multiple servers
    * Yes to radar
    * No friendly fire
    * No cargo loss on death
    * No comment regarding guild stations, guild rewards, and guild station asset destruction

Talk about a departure from the original.  Safe Zones, No Friendly fire, tiny death penalty, no HG Tags, fixed sides.

It's going to suck ass when you know that half the guys you are flying with are spies and you can't do anything about it. RIP Jumpgate, Hello WoW in space.

[Draegan]

You expected more than a lite arcade space shooter?

[UnSub]

You expected more than a lite arcade space shooter?

I think a lot of people believed that Jumpgate: Evolution was going to be the Jumpgate they enjoyed, updated to include a slate of later gen MMO features. However, it certainly appears to have moved more in the direction of Galaga: The MMO, especially with mining and hauling being downplayed.

[Draegan]

I guess, but anyone following the game should of seen what they were trying to do.

[Mrbloodworth]

Jumpgate Evolution: Video interview - Jason Bucher

[slog]

You expected more than a lite arcade space shooter?

I think a lot of people believed that Jumpgate: Evolution was going to be the Jumpgate they enjoyed, updated to include a slate of later gen MMO features. However, it certainly appears to have moved more in the direction of Galaga: The MMO, especially with mining and hauling being downplayed.

They actually spent the first year of two doing just that.  Then they changed their mind apparently. 

Maybe Planetside 2 won't sucl

[Cadaverine]

There's still Black Prophecy. 

[Draegan]

There's still Black Prophecy.  

I wouldn't bet heavily on a game that is heavily instanced and F2P.  And I still don't see why those announcement sound bad.  Sounds like they are improving everything I thought was probably going to suck with the old game.

[Ghambit]

Yah, I'm not seeing THAT many issues with this announcement.   My fav. parts of it was the no instancing, yes to collision detection, and the fact they're leaning on sector-based pvp.
The key will be how large and compelling they can make pvp space.  I hope for huge strategic expanses of space with many, many zones to fight over on a large front... with command structures as well.

Still not entirely what sci-fi needs, but it's a move in the right direction.

[UnSub]

Codemasters launches civil action against NetDevil / Gazillion for the delays in launching JG:E.

Basically Codemasters paid money into a title that was due to launch 2 years ago and still currently has no launch date. They want that money back. I'm sorta guessing that if Codemasters moved to legal action, they aren't expecting a JG:E launch in 2011.

To cross threads: how did NetDevil's Lego Universe go in attracting players? It really seems like that title launched to great indifference, but that might just be because it was targeting a younger market.